Austria's "Stanley" -- A Drummer Who Can Sing -- American Style



While on tour as a drummer with David Hassellhoff
and Johnny Logan -- Stanley was so good with the vocals
that these major stars told him to start singing on his own


One of the persistent questions in music is, "Are there any drummers who can sing?"

Well the answer is yes!

Of course there was Phil Collins of Genesis and the Beatle, Ringo Starr (well he sort of sung) and Karen Carpenter -- the silky voiced American and probably the only prominent pop girl who played the drums.

And in the Germanic pop/schlager realm the fact that drummers can sing is most prominently proven by the young Austrian musical up-and-comer, Stanley.

Stanley -- whose Christian name is Stefan Wrana -- is something of a musical prodigy from the Southern region of Austria -- Carinthia -- which borders Italy

At age 21, he has a musical resume that would be the envy of many much older musicians -- European and otherwise.

And of special interest to Americans and Brits -- this Austrian is an Americanophile, who has performed extensively in the USA and who speaks and writes excellent English.

Stanley is a drummer who has toured with such schlager and pop superstars as Switzerland's Francine Jordi, the international German-American star, David Hassellhoff, Johnny Logan and a number of lesser schlager luminaries.

He has performed extensively in Las Vegas, Nevada -- the entertainment capitol of the American Southwest as well as throughout Europe.

After being told by Hassellhoff and others that his voice was so good, he really should try to give it a go on his own -- he did -- and recorded his first single just this past fall, "Only You," a reprise of the Platters classic 1955 American hit.

His voice is every bit as resonant as that of Elvis himself and it is amazing to think that this song is being performed by an Austrian-born kid who is not a native English speaker.

Today, he spends much of his time promoting other singers and bands from Austria, Slovenia and the South Tyrol in Italy.

But he's begun to toot his own horn (or beat his own drum as the case may be)and has begun to move into his own as a formidable solo performer.

Here is Stanley's first single, released just last month "Only You" as performed on an ORF network Austrian variety show. The song is originally by the Platters -- listen to this with amazement at the fact that it is being sung by a performer who is not a native English language singer:



To give you a sense of how distinctive Stanley is in style from most Northern Germanic types and Austrians (who are generally as lacking in sponteneity as plywood boards) here he is in an amateur video from the Carinthian, South Austrian Familienfest last year:



This wildly talented and eminently flexible kid is going places -- just watch!!